Darkness, Everlasting
by Alexander Ericson
Summary: "Gather round, and I will tell you a story. One of horror and suspense, life and death, and the struggle of a handful of friends to survive! Wish to hear more? Then click on the read button, idiot." This takes place between Acts 3 and 4 of my other story: A Sanguine Dawn. I highly suggest reading that first.
1. Prologue

Prologue

I sat in the living room of my now fiancé's cottage with her in the next room over preparing supper. Before me were the three fillies whom I had taken charge of for the night. They sat in order, from right to left; an orange pegasus, a yellow earth pony, and a white unicorn. They looked in wonder as I settled into my armchair and began my story to them:

"So, you want to hear a story, eh? One where the very fate of Equestria hangs in the balance? If not, too bad. I'm telling you anyway. In my time, I have seen great deal a-many strange things, but this is by far the strangest. I once… uh… "found" an artifact that allowed the user to peer into worlds like ours, but not like ours. One that allowed the viewing of alternate dimensions, places where our world was changed by small choices throughout history. In fact, while I _did_ view many, this one was by far the most disturbing. This one, special, alternate dimension was a gruesome parody of our own. One that disgusted even me. One that-"

"Get on with it!" shouted the three fillies in unison.

"Do please get on with it!" yelled my fiancé from the kitchen doorway.

"GET ON WITH IT!" shouted an entire army over the hillside.

"THERE WERE FRIGGIN' ZOMBIES, OK? Anyway, as I was saying; this universe was home to the walking dead. There, a great plague was unleashed across the lands by some unknown force as foretold in the ancient texts of Neighstradamus. The monstrosities born from the plague were dead, yet not dead; stuck in a limbo of unlife. Their only desire was to consume the flesh of the living-" the orange filly interrupted me:

"Is this story scary? I might get nightmares."

"NO MORE INTERUPPTIONS! I watched as the plague spread all across Equestria, turning ponies everywhere into soulless husks of their former selves. But, let's not get ahead of ourselves; let me begin our story with the one whom I followed through my far-seeing artifact: Twilight Sparkle."


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"Spike! I can you get me that new book that just came in? The one titled _The One Hundred Prophecies of Neighstradamus_." The purple mare stood near a bookcase in her library, making room for a new tome that had just arrived for her beloved collection.

"Got it!" The purple dragon came running over as fast as his small legs could take him, carrying a large, blue book above his head. He handed it to Twilight, who then checked its condition. It was very, very, very old. Its cover was faded and worn, with patches missing revealing the moth-eaten holes in it. She opened it up, and the pages were yellowed with age. On each page, there were just a few lines written, each obviously done by hand.

"Wow! It looks far older than I thought. It could be as many as two hundred years old. Maybe even older. I wonder who Neighstradamus is, anyway. I have never heard of him, have you Spike?" The purple dragon shook his head.

"I donno. Maybe it says it in the book." The unicorn began flitting through the pages to the beginning of the book, and there she found a page of acknowledgement to the pony spoken of.

"Apparently he was a farseer, famous in his time for making unbelievable predictions that always came true. He lived… _over two thousand years ago?_ That's even older than the princesses!" Even Spike was surprised at this revelation.

"Hey, if he was really a farseer, maybe he knew about Nightmare Moon and Discord!" The baby dragon reached for the book, but Twilight set it on a desk just out of reach.

"Don't be silly, Spike. I doubt there is anything referring to-" She had flipped towards the end of the book, and there it was. _The Eclipse._

_ "The Eclipse: One thousand years from now, there will be two, one of Day and one of Night. Darkness will brew within Night, and Night will shut out Day, and take rule of all. Then, Day will shine true, wiping away the darkness of the moon and restore harmony at the price of Day's solemn sister."_

Twilight gaped at the page until Spike managed to balance on top of a stack of books. He too soon began to gape, until the unicorn flipped the pages again.

"That's just a coincidence. There's no way that he could have foreseen Nightmare Moon…"

_"Discord and Disharmony: There will be a mighty god, whom will unleash great chaos on the lands. Six of true heart will step forward to challenge him, and only one will stay true. When all hope seems lost, lost memories will burn anew and harmony will strike down chaos, restoring the order once more."_

More gawking. The unicorn began flipping through the last few pages, each revealing all of her and the Elements of Harmony's greatest feats so far, from the Crystal Empire Wedding to the defeat of King Sombra. The final page, however, was something she did not recognize.

_"Darkness Everlasting: Two millennia from now, a veil of ancient evil will arise from the earth, and feed Its mad, deathless hunger with the life of all. No pony will be safe from Its dark embrace, not even Sun nor Moon nor Love. Chaos will thrive in the darkness. But when it too is consumed, the stars will shine, lighting the path to salvation."_

There was quiet, as the two tried as they could to figure out the meaning. Spike spoke up:

"I… I think it is talking about the end of the world." He shuddered at the thought, while Twilight brushed it off.

"Oh, come on Spike. Now _that's_ silly. Everypony knows that there is no such thing as the apocalypse," scolded the mare.

"Then what about the rest of the predictions? _They_ all came true." Twilight Sparkle swallowed at this, realizing that she had nothing to counter this. The prophecies were far too accurate to be simple coincidence, and if ninety-nine have been resolved...

"And, Twilight… how old did you say this Neighstradamus guy was?" She swallowed again, now thoughts of doom seeping into her mind.

"I-if this book has accurate dates… Exactly tw-two thousand y-years ago.

_***CRASH***_

"What was _that_?" yelped Spike, jumping onto Twilight's back.

"Maybe… maybe it was Owlowiscous knocking something over," Twilight soothed. However, they both knew that the owl was far too nimble and intelligent to do something like that. That, and that it sounded like an entire chariot crashed into the upstairs bedroom.

The two of them slowly made their way upstairs, and what they found shocked them both. Before them, lay the wreckage of a Crystal Empire chariot, having plowed through the roof into the bedroom of the library. Debris lay strewn about, and in the moonlight seeping through the destroyed ceiling, they could pick out a few shapes. In the corner of the room, lay a solitary, unmoving wing buried under some rubble. Owlowiscous. Then, they saw movement in the chariot. Having been spooked by the book, neither dared move forward. That is, until they saw the tall figure of Twilight's brother arise from the wreckage. Although Twilight felt the urge to rush to his side, something about him stopped her. In the dim light, they could only pick out his mane and white coat. While there were splotches of red on him, he seemed otherwise unscathed.

"Twily! Oh, thank Celestia I found you! I have to get you to safety! Something has gone horribly wrong, and I need to get you out of here!"

"What is it? Why did you come though the roof?" the mare took a step towards her brother, but Spike halted her advance. When she looked at him, all he did was breathe a gust of fire in the direction of Shining Armor. That's when Twilight realized what was wrong.

What stood before her was her brother, yet not him. The Thing before her had his coat, his mane, his voice, and even his Cutie Mark, but the resemblance stopped there. The Shining Armor before her had a portion of his neck torn out, and half of his face was missing. His eyes were a milky yellow colour, without any pupils. His lips were also missing, and his gums were peeled back to reveal rows of jagged teeth, stained red with blood. The fire dissipated, but the image in Twilight's eyes did not. Not even the dim light fooled her now, the mockery of her brother's flaws being so obvious that she was surprised she didn't notice immediately. The imposter sighed.

"I'm sorry you had to see that, Twily. I was hoping I could just kill you quickly, so that I wouldn't have to fight you. So I could spare you the horror. But I guess it's never that easy. Oh well, I guess you will have to be a snack instead." He took a stance, and lunged.


	3. Chapter 2

_Authors Notice: Whoops! I forgot to mention who made the beau-ti-ful cover art for my story. A certain someone over at deviantART by the name of adailey made it. Thanks to her, and find some time to check out her works. They are just as gorgeous as this here picture! Anywhoo… read on to see Zombie Shining Armor attack "Twily"! *yay*_

Chapter 2

Twilight Sparkle was tackled by her "brother" and fell backwards down the stairs, with Spike watching in horror. They tumbled, and Twilight let out a pained yowl as she hit the bottom. Shining Armor grinned at her maliciously, and saliva dripped from his teeth.

"You know, Twily, I have always loved you. I really don't want to do this, but it's the only way. I can't let you live to become like me. I wouldn't forgive myself. So I have to kill you now to spare you the trouble. He slowly lowered his gaping maw to her throat, but she bucked him in the gut, knocking him off of her. He got to his hooves in an instant, while Twilight struggled to gather herself, having hurt her back in the tumble.

"Shining? How did this happen? How did you get that way? _Why are you doing this_?" He chuckled.

"Twily, Twily; you can't possibly understand the Hunger. It's indescribable. It's the one driving force in my body; the need to feed causes unbearable pain for every second I don't. You can't understand how hard it is talking to you right now. As for how, you ask? Let me re-cap-"

"It all started one day in the Crystal Empire. There were reports of domestic disturbance out in a farm just on the edge of the territory. I sent some guards to settle it, but when they didn't come back, I went looking myself. There, I found a massacre. The guards I had sent were nothing but bones, and the farmer who lived there attacked me. He bit me in the shoulder, and I was forced to use lethal force, killing him. I returned to the castle as soon as I could, and Cadance tried to help me. I- I attacked her. I tore out her throat and some guards tried to stop me. Cadance turned like me and began to attack them with me. We then attacked my guards and ate them. We went on to slaughter nearly everypony in the city, those who weren't eaten became like us. She left for Canterlot, and I came here to save you from this while I was still full from… home. Of course, by save I mean kill so you wouldn't turn like me. But it's a little late for that now, 'cause I'm getting hungry again, and you're starting to look really appetizing."

Twilight said nothing, and instead fired a bolt of magic into her former brother's chest, blasting a dinner-plate sized hole in him. He collapsed, but got up again grinning.

"You didn't really expect that to kill me, did you? I'm not sure what kills us, but that doesn't. Cadance lost more than half of _her_ torso, so I should know." Twilight recoiled at the thought of her foalhood friend being mangled in such a manner, but she had to focus. Too late.

Shining Armor pounced on her once more, causing her to lose focus and her spell she was charging to fade.

"There… now… I wonder how you taste. I was wondering the whole ride here. I think either grapes or plums, but I will have to just taste and see, huh?" The mare squirmed as the monster that was once her brother opened his mouth wide to take a bite. Then, his eyes went wider as a cricket bat was smashed across his face, sending him sprawling.

"Forgot about me then, huh?" Spike said as he closed the distance between himself and Shining Armor. The decaying stallion's head was caved in, but he still managed to say softly:

"I'm sorry… Twily." Spike then proceeded to smash the stallion over the head until the body stopped moving. The young dragon moved back over to Twilight Sparkle, dropping the bloodied bat on the floor before stepping in front of her.

"Spike… Is it really the end of the world?"

"I don't know… let's see here… Your brother turned into a zombie, tried to eat you, and I just beat him to death with a bat. Yeah, I don't think that it's your average afternoon here in Ponyville." Twilight was almost shocked at how nonchalant Spike was being, with her now sniveling all over herself. She then sniffled before saying:

"Spike… you've got red on you." The dragon was covered head to toe in blood and skull fragments. He broke out laughing, before becoming solemn again.

"Twilight… what are we going to do?" The unicorn got up, wiping away her tears.

"We need to send a letter to the princesses, and warn them. Then, we need to assemble the Elements." Spike was about to get a paper and quill, when he suddenly burped up a letter from the princess. It was stained red. He opened it with caution as Twilight watching, and read it aloud:

"Dear Twilight Sparkle: If you have received this, then congratulations on not getting killed by my husband. Myself and my aunts will be arriving shortly, after we are done here in Canterlot. - C" Spike breathed heavily, before dropping the scroll on the blood-soaked floor.

"That's not good. At all. At least we know now what Neighstradamus was talking about in his prophecy. I just can't believe this is all happening. A zombie apocalypse, I mean." Twilight perked up at "Zombie".

"Come on, Spike. Everypony knows there is no such thing as zombies." She said this without any sincerity, and they both noticed. Suddenly, the door to the library exploded open. There, stood Twilight's friend, Applejack.

"Twilight! Thank Celestia! Come on! We need to check up on the others!" Twilight was trying to process what was going on.

"What do you mean, 'check up on the others?' What's going on?" Twilight prayed it wasn't what she thought it was. Applejack saw the mangled corpse of Shining Armor on the ground behind Twilight, and nodded his way.

"I think ya'll know _exactly_ what _I'm_ talkin' about." That did it. Twilight grabbed the tome and placed it in her saddle bag, and the three of them ran outside, with Spike carrying his bat. Outside was pure anarchy. Ponies were running about, fires burning down whole buildings, and zombies running about everywhere. They dashed past a zombified Lyra eating Bon-Bon on their way to Sugarcube Corner and Twilight overheard her say:

"What's wrong, Bon-Bon? I thought you _liked_ it when I ate you!"

"Is this story appropriate for our age?" Asked the orange filly before me.

"Of course it is! Now, do you want to hear a story or not?" The fillies piped down and I continued:

"What happened ya'll? It's like Armageddon out here!" Applejack shouted over the screams of ponies being slaughtered.

"I think that may be the closest comparison we have right now, Applejack." The orange mare looked at her friend sideways as they came to the sweet shop.

"I just received a book on Neighstradamus earlier, and apparently this whole thing was _predicted_!" The farm mare shook this off.

"We ain't got no time for that now! Let's get in there!" Just as Applejack was about to break down the door, a chainsaw sawed the door in half, with a ballet of blood spraying in the process. Applejack jumped back, startled, and relaxed slightly as Pinkie Pie emerged from the remains of the door and the Cakes.

"Hiya guys! I was just about to come get you!" Spike just pointed at the motorized death machine in her hooves.

"Pinkie, what are you doing with a chainsaw?" the pink mare giggled.

"Oh, Spikey! It's just one of my 'Cupcake-making-tools' I have laying around! Sure comes in handy when zombie-ponies start running around!" She giggled again before saying:

"Well, anyway… You should check up on Fluttershy and Red Storm! I'm gonna go meet with Big Mac and Rainbow Dash to slaughter more zombies!" She then hopped away, cleaving through the growing horde. The triplet decided that they should first find Rarity, as it was closer, and she is less likely to survive the onslaught. The two mares and the dragon charged deeper into town, bucking, bashing, and blasting their way to the Boutique. By the time they reached the front door, they were drenched in congealed blood. As Twilight reached for the doorknob, the door exploded into thousands of splinters. There stood an infuriated Rarity who had blood stains on her coat and in her mane.

"These beasts have ruined my boutique and I want my _revenge_." Twilight looked at her normally gathered friend with worry.

"Uh… Rarity… are you feeling alright?" The white unicorn took a deep breath before speaking.

"No, Twilight dear, I am not alright. Zombies are attacking the town, Sweetie Belle is nowhere to be found, and _I AM COVERED IN FILTH!_ Just _look_ at my mane!" Twilight was relieved… in a weird way. Just then, a zombie that appeared to be Octavia lunged forward from the street and tackled Rarity. There was a blast of ferocious energy, and the former headed body of Zedtavia tumbled to Rarity's side as she re-arose.

"Let's just go, and hope that Fluttershy and Red Storm are still alive. After all, they are most likely to be housing the Cutie Mark Crusaders during a time like this." Twilight nodded at the unicorn's proposition, but Applejack shook her head.

"Ya'll go ahead. I will go and get Rainbow and Pinkie and mah brother and meet ya'll there. Don't worry about me. I can handle maself." She tipped her Stetson before charged into the bloody horde growing ever larger, bucking skulls as she went.

The two unicorns and dragon headed out towards the edge of town, but found it was no better than town square. Gored bodies riddled the once-green area, filling the air with a stink unlike any other. The trio slowed their pace, seeing no zombies in their immediate area, but jumped at a thundering _*BOOM*_ that came from the direction of Fluttershy's cabin. They picked up their pace, pausing to put down a mare who's entire lower body and legs were eaten, rendering the squirming mass immobile. Spike smashed in her head with his bat, and they pressed on. The thundering booms continued and upon reaching the cottage, the reason became clear. There was a horde of at least fifty zombies surrounding the cottage, and in the center of the horde stood a stallion black as night, wearing a suit of armour as golden as the sun. Even in the darkness of the night, the moonlight reflected off of the armour in beautiful ways.

The stallion they knew as Red Storm was smashing through the hordes with a fury of a typhoon in mortal form, flinging half a dozen zombies with every buck and blow. The three stood back in the cover of the trees while the demigod finished his work. When all was still, they approached.

"Halt! Are you dead, or alive? Because I will certainly put you down if you are the former," spoke the stallion from behind his helm. Then, upon closer inspection, he saw that the group before him were simply covered in blood, and not wounds to match them.

"Hold the phone...! Twilight! Lady Rarity! Spike! How are you! Not undead I see!" The group relaxed and stepped forward, and Red Storm led them inside the cottage. The windows were boarded up, but the lights were still on. Red Storm removed his helm and placed it on the coffee table in the middle of the room before calling for his fiancé to join them. Fluttershy descended from the second floor, surrounded by three frightened fillies. One orange pegasus, one white unicorn, and one yellow earth pony.

"Oh my! Twilight! Rarity! Spike! I was wondering if you were going to be ok." The black pegasus stallion laughed as he removed his adamant armour.

"Hey, hey! I was gonna head into town to look for them after I put down that horde, but they came here! In one piece too! _Covered_ in pieces perhaps, but intact nonetheless." Twilight was shaken by how light-hearted the stallion was being. It was not like him at all. He noticed her expression and said:

"Oh, sorry my dear. It's just that back home I was brought up to be an avatar of war, and I finally get to put that training to use! And it's a hell of a lot more fun than I expected!" Again, the purple mare was unnerved by this sadistic positivity, but she pushed it aside. Red Storm, however, continued:

"I mean, I finally get to do all of those things the voices have been talking about for all these years, and I won't even get penalized! It's the best! I get to rend and maim and kill without worry! _It's glorious! I love it!_" Suddenly he paused, mumbled a quick apology, and stepped into the kitchen where he could be heard talking to himself. Twilight looked up to Fluttershy, who simply shook her head. The purple mare looked around the room, and saw that Rarity was comforting her younger sister while Spike tried to reassure Apple Bloom that Applejack and Big Mac were going to show up. Scootaloo was simply sitting in a corner looking depressed that nopony was coming for her. Twilight frowned. Poor Scootaloo… where has she been living all this time without her family, anyway? Twilight shook away the thought as there was a knock on the door. Red Storm flew out of the kitchen immediately, looking slightly unhinged, with his red and black mane ruffled and his eyes suddenly bloodshot. Perhaps he isn't handling this as well as he would like us to believe. He stopped next to the door, and stuck his nose out the window between two boards and inhaled deeply. He whispered audibly "fresh meat" before opening the door. There stood Applejack and Rainbow Dash. The two of them where covered in blood but had no visible injuries. A quick sniff from Red Storm confirmed that they were unscathed, and he let them in, locking the door behind them. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo both ran over to the door to embrace their respective loved ones. Apple Bloom wore a look of dread however, and asked:

"Sis… where's Big Mac?" Applejack's eyes watered and Apple Bloom knew the answer without needing any words to be said. All was silent… that is until Red Storm began loudly slurping on something. Twilight looked up angrily, but recoiled when she saw he was drinking a blood pack. His cat-slit eyes glowed sanguine, and she broke eye contact, instead pulling out her tome from her saddle bag and placing it on the coffee table in front of her.

"Ok, everypony! We need a plan! Let's discuss our next plan of action, and act quickly!"

_Sluuuuurp._


End file.
